Karen Beckham (Senior Human Resources Advisor) won the David Ulrich HR Practitioner Award at the Australian HR Institute (AHRI) Awards – Mark of Excellence, held at the Sydney Convention Centre on 27th November 2019.

Each year at the AHRI Awards, the HR industry comes together to recognise the most impactful people management initiatives and programs, from passionate individuals to trailblazing organisations across HR and the business world. Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal’s very own Karen Beckham was presented with the David Ulrich HR Practitioner Award, a prestigious award that recognises HR practitioners who demonstrate excellence through their achievement of business outcomes. David Ulrich described Karen as having “…a strong commitment for delivering business results through HR, with a particular focus on diversity, well-being, safety, and social responsibility. She lives her values as those who know her best and work daily with her, admire her the most”.

Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal CEO, Steve Rae, said Karen was a worthy recipient. “She has been a culture champion within our organisations, ensuring that we are aligning ourselves with best practices across the area of people and culture. In addition to her work at DBCT P/L, Karen given back to the community. Her passion is obvious, and I applaud her for it.”

Karen said she was in shock when her name was called out as the winner. “I couldn’t believe they called out my name and I instantly cried, happy tears, shock I guess because when I looked at the other finalists in this category I felt I didn’t have a chance of winning as I was up against Senior Executive Officers Directors. I was so excited and remember thinking, lucky I did prepare a speech as AHRI suggested to finalists and the proud feeling of winning this award and I was really proud of being a HR Professional. The reality of winning this award took a few days to set in. I remember thinking this is an Australia wide award. Walking into work the first day after receiving the award really hit home of how significant this was and how proud I felt working for DBCT P/L.”

Karen’s achievements that contributed to her award include:

2018 RIN Leading from the Front award recipient
Commonwealth Games Baton bearer
Board member for the Mackay Women’s Services and Domestic Violence Resource Service (Mackay)
Domestic Violence Taskforce (Mackay) member
Masters of Management (HR)
Masters of Employment Relations
Domestic and Family Violence Policy
Diversity and Inclusion Project

DBCT P/L congratulates Karen, this award is a true credit to her hard work and dedication not only at DBCT P/L, but also within the community.

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